Apparatus and method for providing a network termination point

Abstract

Apparatus and method for providing a termination point for service emulation instances in an access network is provided. In an embodiment, the service emulation instances are implemented utilizing, for example, pseudowires. Communications to and from the access network are aggregated and transmitted via one or more pseudowires to a service emulation instance terminator. The service emulation instance terminator converts the traffic to its native form and, if necessary, converts the traffic to a different type of format or service. The service emulation instance terminator then frames the traffic for the appropriate type of service and transmits the traffic to the service edge. Traffic received from the service is removed prepended with a pseudowire label and aggregated with other traffic. The aggregated traffic is transmitted to the customer via the access network. If necessary, an interworking function may convert the traffic from one type of service to another type of service. Further, functionalities of equipment such as frame relay switching or Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) switching may be realized in the service emulation instance terminator.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method comprising:
 forwarding a portion of aggregated data received from a first service emulation endpoint of a service emulation instance terminator to a second service emulation endpoint of the service emulation instance terminator, wherein the first service emulation endpoint and the second service emulation endpoint correspond to a customer network and a core network, respectively; 
 selectively converting another portion of the aggregated data to a format that is native to another core network, 
 wherein the forwarding of the portion of the aggregated data is performed at a switch of the service emulation instance terminator, and the conversion of the other portion of the aggregated data is performed at a framer of the service emulation instance terminator. 
 
     
     
       2. A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the aggregated data is from an aggregation system serving a plurality of customer networks including the customer network, the method further comprising:
 receiving the aggregated data as part of an information flow from the aggregation system. 
 
     
     
       3. A method according to  claim 2 , wherein the aggregation system is among a plurality of aggregation systems, the method further comprising:
 receiving data from another one of the aggregation systems to be forwarded via the core network. 
 
     
     
       4. A method according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 interfacing with a service edge to communicate with the core network, wherein the core network and the other core network are among a plurality of core networks accessible via the service edge, each of the core networks being associated with a service emulation point. 
 
     
     
       5. A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the first service emulation endpoint and the second service emulation endpoint are pseudowire endpoints. 
     
     
       6. A method according to  claim 5 , wherein each of the pseudowire endpoints corresponds to one or more pseudowires within a tunnel 
     
     
       7. A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the native format is according to at least one of a Time Division Multiplexed (TDM) and an Ethernet-type data. 
     
     
       8. An apparatus comprising:
 at least one processor; and 
 at least one memory including computer program code for one or more programs, 
 the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following,
 forward a portion of aggregated data received from a first service emulation endpoint of a service emulation instance terminator to a second service emulation endpoint of the service emulation instance terminator, wherein the first service emulation endpoint and the second service emulation endpoint correspond to a customer network and a core network, respectively; 
 selectively convert another portion of the aggregated data to a format that is native to another core network, 
 wherein the forwarding of the portion of the aggregated data is performed at a switch of the service emulation instance terminator, and the conversion of the other portion of the aggregated data is performed at a framer of the service emulation instance terminator. 
 
 
     
     
       9. An apparatus according to  claim 8 , wherein the aggregated data is from an aggregation system serving a plurality of customer networks including the customer network, and the apparatus is further caused to:
 receive the aggregated data as part of an information flow from the aggregation system. 
 
     
     
       10. An apparatus according to  claim 9 , wherein the aggregation system is among a plurality of aggregation systems, and the apparatus is further caused to:
 receive data from another one of the aggregation systems to be forwarded via the core network. 
 
     
     
       11. An apparatus according to  claim 8 , wherein the apparatus is further caused to:
 interface with a service edge to communicate with the core network, wherein the core network and the other core network are among a plurality of core networks accessible via the service edge, each of the core networks being associated with a service emulation point. 
 
     
     
       12. An apparatus according to  claim 8 , wherein the first service emulation endpoint and the second service emulation endpoint are pseudowire endpoints. 
     
     
       13. An apparatus according to  claim 12 , wherein each of the pseudowire endpoints corresponds to one or more pseudowires within a tunnel 
     
     
       14. An apparatus according to  claim 8 , wherein the native format is according to at least one of a Time Division Multiplexed (TDM) and an Ethernet-type data. 
     
     
       15. A system comprising:
 a service emulation instance terminator configured to forward a portion of aggregated data received from a first service emulation endpoint of the service emulation instance terminator to a second service emulation endpoint of the service emulation instance terminator, wherein the first service emulation endpoint and the second service emulation endpoint correspond to a customer network and a core network, respectively; 
 selectively convert another portion of the aggregated data to a format that is native to another core network, 
 wherein the forwarding of the portion of the aggregated data is performed at a switch of the service emulation instance terminator, and the conversion of the other portion of the aggregated data is performed at a framer of the service emulation instance terminator. 
 
     
     
       16. A system according to  claim 15 , further comprising:
 a switch coupled to the service emulation instance terminator and configured to receive the aggregated data from an aggregation system serving a plurality of customer networks including the customer network. 
 
     
     
       17. A system according to  claim 16 , wherein the aggregation system is among a plurality of aggregation systems configured to communicate with the switch. 
     
     
       18. A system according to  claim 15 , wherein the service emulation instance terminator is further configured to interface with a service edge to communicate with the core network, the core network and the other core network being among a plurality of core network accessible via the service edge, each of the core networks being associated with a service emulation point, and
 a switch coupled to the service emulation instance terminator and configured to receive the aggregated data from an aggregation system serving a plurality of customer networks including the customer network. 
 
     
     
       19. A system according to  claim 18 , wherein the aggregation system is among a plurality of aggregation systems configured to communicate with the switch. 
     
     
       20. A system according to  claim 15 , wherein the service emulation instance terminator is further configured to interface with a service edge to communicate with the core network, the core network being among a plurality of core networks accessible via the service edge, each of the core networks being associated with a service emulation point.